Emmett D. Ross says he was falsely accused of a KKK smear and fired because he is African American.

Emmett D. Ross, who was fired last year and rehired after a labor arbitrator ruled in his favor, said he was dismissed because he is African America. His firing gained national attention from white-supremacist Web sites, which characterized Ross as a racist.

The suit, filed last week against the city and Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, contends that the city knew the charges against Ross were baseless but fired him to placate the white lieutenant.

Ayers said Friday that he had not yet reviewed the suit and could not comment on most of its allegations. But he rejected the contention that Ross was fired because of his race.

"That's absolutely not true," said Ayers, who also is African American. "That's the furthest thing from the truth."

The incident started in February 2006, when Lt. Joseph Montague found the pillowcase on his locker when he arrived at work at the Engine 9 firehouse in the city's Mount Airy section.

Montague was a local vice president of the Chicago-based Concerned American Fire Fighters Association (CAFFA), which opposes hiring quotas for minorities.

The pillowcase had been lettered with a green marker. It had two eye-holes drawn above the letters KKKAFFA, merging the initials of the Ku Klux Klan with CAFFA. Montague said at the time that he was frightened because he was being linked to the Klan.

This incident is nearly two years old and didn't get any local or national media until the federal lawsuit was filed. Imagine that? This was an ugly incident. The police were forced to investigate. The firefighters who were interviewed were less than 100% cooperative, and in the end it looks as if the wrong man was fired.